𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬 & 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬

character arc template

creating your character arc

Ask yourself why:

Why do you want to write this story?

Why is the theme important to you?

What is the protagonist's desire? (the thing they believe will make them happy)

What is the protagonist's fear? (the thing stopping them from going after what will make them happy)

What is the protagonist's misbelief? (the thing they mistakenly believe is true about the world)

The Opening

When a story first opens, nothing hooks the reader except for one thing: your protagonist's inner conflict.

In a nutshell, that means: desire vs. fear.

How is the protagonist's fear standing in the way of getting what they think will make them truly happy?

The Inciting Incident

Why does this inciting incident matter to your protagonist?

How does it push them outside their comfort zone?

How are they going to respond to it, based on the fear that has raised them?

The Middle

The fear based decision your protagonist made after the inciting incident is something they're still paying for...until the game changing midpoint.

This usually leads to bad decisions on the protagonist's part, as they think they're doing the right thing, but they're actually doing the opposite (still trying to avoid the thing they're afraid of).

The Dark Moment

Disaster strikes! But what does this disaster personally mean to the protagonist?

How does it force them to realize that they're the one to blame for this crisis?

How does it completely disarm them and make them face off with their fear and misbelief?

The Aha Moment

After your protagonist has been brought to their knees by the disaster, they have a revelation - an aha moment.

They can suddenly see how their fear and misbelief has led them to make the wrong decisions about everything.

So how is your protagonist going to overcome their fear and continue to the climax, therefore developing as a character?

What lesson are they going to learn (and simultaneously teach the audience?)

The Ending

Protagonist faces their most difficult challenge yet.

It's a true test of their character - and how they respond to the situation is the proof that they've changed.

At the end of the story, your reader should feel content with the message of the book because the character has changed for the better, even if they weren't able to make things right in the end.

Conclusion

If your reader doesn't know how the character has transformed as a result of their journey, you need to rewrite your book until they do.